I started from P8, planning an exercise skate ski on the Doldrums. As I was setting out some friends returning from skiing the Loop told me the best grooming was around Mica, so I changed my plans and headed first up the Gatineau and Champlain parkways to the base of the Black Lake hill, then down to Pink Lake and back to P8. Everywhere I skied had been groomed recently, but it seemed the groomer had finished on the Gatineau parkway, giving a softer surface there. The surface was definitely harder between Mica and Pink Lake, but the skiing was still quite good. On the Gatineau and Champlain parkways the skating was controllable but very fast. Classic skiers seemed to be having a tough time with tracks varying from soft and mushy to hard and icy. The skate lane surface is still old powder snow, there is no sign of granular snow yet.